Is Finance a Good Career Path? : Everything You Should Know

Is Finance a Good Career Path? – Here’s Everything You Need To Know

There are several factors that you should consider before choosing a career path. Different jobs work best for different people, and it’s important to understand what kind of person you are before choosing a path.

Finance is a popular career path because it has plenty of projected growth and job stability. In addition, plenty of jobs in the financial industry offer great pay and bonuses year-round. However, these are only some factors you should consider when choosing an occupation.

Continue reading to learn about whether finance is a good career path. In addition, we will discuss personality traits compatible with a career in finance to help you decide if it’s a good fit for you.

Benefits of a Career in Finance

Is Finance a Good Career Path? : Everything You Should Know

Whenever you choose a career, it’s important to look at the benefits of that career path. There are plenty of reasons people enjoy entering the finance career. Financial jobs are stable, secure, and have plenty of projected growth. Many jobs in the finance industry also offer excellent rates because finance is a booming business.

Industry Growth

Statistics experts predict that financial jobs will increase by nearly 10% within the next ten years period this is a large growth margin that you should consider when you want a career in finance. Moreover, these figures are relevant to the United States.

However, although these figures are specific to the US, finance is a great career with plenty of growth worldwide. With the addition of cryptocurrency, finances are more widely available than they’ve ever been before. Cryptocurrency is a popular form of exchange in the financial industry worldwide.

Job Security

Finding a career in finance is one of the best ideas you can have if you’re looking for job security. The financial industry is massive, and you can find a position for large or small-scale businesses to manage finances. In addition, job security is important if you plan to travel a lot and want a job wherever you go.

However, the security of your finance job depends on your chosen sector. For example, many people go into accounting because it’s one of the more stable financial career paths you can follow. In addition, many businesses require accountants to keep track of their finances and ensure everything lines up properly.

Consistent Working Hours

Most jobs you get in finance run on a 9 to 5 schedule for five days a week. This is one of the best schedules you can get throughout the United States because it lines up with daily routines. These days, having nights and weekends off can feel like a luxury, and you can expect this time off when you work in the financial industry.

Most people who work in finance also receive holidays off to spend with their families. It’s uncommon for jobs to make their financial experts work on a government holiday. Plenty of financial careers also offer their employees PTO so they can go on vacations whenever they want.

Great Pay

When you manage business finances, you can expect the employer to compensate you well. Typical finance majors in the US earn from $19,509 to $515,794 a year. 

Employers want to ensure that their financial advisors do an excellent job, so they don’t try to undercut them financially. As a result, most financial careers offer fantastic compensation worldwide.

However, your pay can fluctuate depending on your career path in the finance industry. If you choose a salary position, you don’t have to worry as much about fluctuation. However, if you’re a financial expert who works with money going up and down, the market can greatly impact your receiving.

Cons of a Career in Finance

Is Finance a Good Career Path? : Everything You Should Know

Even though finance is a highly sought-after career path, you can expect plenty of downsides when you join the industry. Financial careers are only made for some, and you should be aware of that before going to college for this job. The last thing you want to do is spend money getting a degree for a topic that doesn’t fit your lifestyle.

Stressful

Whenever you manage money for a large or small-scale business, you can expect plenty of stress to come with the job. Business owners take their financial situation very seriously, and you could receive the brunt of things if a business performs poorly.

Some financial positions are more stressful than others. For example, financial experts who work in investments experience higher stress than those who work in accounting. The former option experienced so much stress because there is no way to predict market fluctuations. So, when things go downhill for their client, they take it out on the financial expert.

Also, people that work in the financial industry can still experience human error. When you cause an error regarding a business’s finances, it can end your job. There are plenty of people who can’t handle this stressful environment in their career path.

Work Longer Hours

Depending on your job in the financial industry, you could work longer than in other fields. People take finances seriously, and it could require overtime if there’s a complication with the system. Your boss might not let you get out of work early because there’s something wrong with their finances that you need to figure out.

Other financial careers might require you to work in the office and at home. This can be extremely time-consuming, and many people don’t like to spend that much time at work. However, if you’re the type of person that frequently seeks overtime at your job, the finance industry is perfect for you.

Best Personality Traits for a Finance Career

Now that you understand the general pros and cons of the financial industry, it’s time to discuss how your personality can affect your job performance. Even though the financial career path offers plenty of job growth and stability, it’s not the right option for everybody. Certain personality traits do not mesh well with financial jobs.

It’s important that you get to know yourself before you choose a career path. Understand what you want and don’t want regarding your career so you can gain education and something that you’ll enjoy. For example, you don’t want to spend years in school for a financial job if it doesn’t mesh well with your personality.

Loves To Lead

People who join a finance career need excellent leadership skills to guide businesses in the right direction. Financial experts must put their foot down about certain situations regarding how businesses handle their money. If you don’t feel like you have the backbone to implement these leadership skills into your daily life, a financial career might not be right for you.

If you have natural leadership skills, you’ll have no trouble fitting in when you join a financial career path. These skills will help you plan and organize important aspects of your job that will boost your performance. Natural leadership skills will also help you work together as a team to reach financial goals for the business.

Natural Confidence

It’s important for people who work in the financial industry to have self-confidence. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult for you to handle the situation emotionally whenever things go wrong. People who are confident in themselves have an easier time handling stressful situations and making financial decisions.

Unfortunately, even if you don’t have good confidence naturally, there are ways that you can build it up within yourself. Building your confidence can go a long way, no matter which profession you select. People enjoy working with confident people that know what they’re doing in their careers. If you struggle with confidence, it would be best to work on this to perform well wherever you go.

Great Problem-Solving Skills

When you work in finance, you’ll need to manage many stressful situations and figure out resolutions. Unfortunately, there isn’t always a blueprint for fixing a business’s finances, so you need excellent problem-solving skills. These skills will help you identify problems within your industry and work towards a resolution together.

Is Finance a Good Career Path? : Everything You Should Know

Ambitious

It’s important for people who work in finance to have strong personal ambitions. This character trait will help you achieve larger business goals and build your network. Unfortunately, people who struggle to find ambition and passion in their industry don’t typically perform well in the financial career path.

You can quickly become jaded if you work in the financial industry without strong motivation and ambition.

Craves Stability

People who crave a stable lifestyle would benefit from working in finance because you can expect a consistent work schedule. For example, many jobs in the financial industry work on a 9-to-5 basis, so people can have plenty of time off and feel connected with the outside world. However, finance might not be a good option if you don’t seek stability in your career path.

Introverted or Extroverted

Finance is a great career path for people who are extroverted or introverted. Many jobs can accommodate both personality traits because some financial jobs happen behind a computer and others in person. However, before choosing a job, you should understand where you stay on the introverted and extroverted scale.

Below, we will discuss the most popular jobs in the financial industry based on introversion and extroversion. These guidelines will help you choose an option suitable for your communication preferences. Extraverts thrive in a business setting where they constantly communicate with the team.

Alternatively, introverts thrive in a setting where they don’t require communication.

Popular Occupations for Introverts

Introverts can thrive in the financial industry if they choose the right career path. These are the most popular financial career jobs you can find as an introvert.

  • Credit managers: credit manager help determine loan amounts based on a credit score and other financial situations. However, they don’t interact much with the people purchasing a product. Their main role is to make calculations and provide a rate to the person communicating with the client.
  • Controllers: A controller spends plenty of time checking books and records for business finances. These tasks don’t usually include person-to-person interactions.
  • Treasures: a treasurer spends time writing reports and looking at general financial information of an organization.
  • Cash managers: a cash manager pays attention to incoming and outgoing money about a business. These managers can identify business performance and report this performance to a company. Most of their time is spent behind a computer running calculations.

Sometimes, introverted people have trouble finding career paths suitable to their lifestyles. Fortunately, there are plenty of financial career paths that can accommodate introverts.

Popular Occupations for Extroverts

An extroverted person can thrive in any financial situation except the abovementioned ones. Extroverted people especially thrive in sales and advising roles.

Final Thoughts

Finance is a great career path for people who crave stability and standard work hours and have excellent leadership skills. Therefore, people in the financial industry need to organize their thoughts and calculate going and outgoing cash.

You should choose your financial role based on your personality traits and how you like to spend your time. If you are preparing to take a test to gain a role in finance or accounting, head over to Job Test Prep for the best preparation materials on the market.